Anything But Wonderland
by animefreakproductions5
Summary: Alice is just a normal college freshman majoring in art at her university. What started as a family outing for the first time since leaving for campus quickly spirals out of control. Separated from everyone else in the gallery, Alice must survive her way through puzzles and monsters to escape the world she somehow wound up in. If not, she may never see the outside world again.
1. Strange Happenings

**A/N:  
Helloooooooo! What? animefreakproductions5 actually posted another fanfic?! I think the term is "hell has officially frozen over."**  
**In all seriousness, enjoy this new one guys if you've already clicked the favorite button. Another button I like being pushed is the review button. XD**  
**I'll be quiet now and get back to my research paper... Enjoy the read!**

* * *

In the afternoon, under a grey sky, 18-year-old Alice and her parents were on their way to an art gallery. There was no prediction of rain, but the dreary color made Alice a tad restless. She hated rainy days because it kept her from going outside. Her father was driving the family automobile. Hoping not to be late, they'd left their cozy home a few minutes early.

"Did you remember everything, Alice?" her father asks, not taking his eyes off the road.

Her mother quips, "Oh! Do you have your handkerchief? You know, the one you got for your birthday?"

Alice sighs, knowing her mother was going to ask her that. Fishing the white, laced fabric out of her jean-jacket pocket, she replies, "Yes, Mother..." The handkerchief is soft and silky. In the bottom-right corner, her name is embroidered in aqua.

"Keep it safe in your pocket, ok? Don't lose it!" her mother advises.

"Mother! I am no longer a child!" Alice objects with a light smile. She knows she's only being babied since she left the nest not too long ago. She is now attending her first year in college. It is good to be with her family, even if that meant she had to endure being coddled. She enjoyed the freedom college gave her, but she had been a little sheltered as a child, so she missed her parents every day she wasn't home. The 18-year-old was so excited when she learned they would be going to an art gallery together for their first family outing in a while.

Walking into that gallery, Alice can only imagine the days when her artwork will be viewed and honored. She can hardly wait.

Alice's mother gently squeezes Alice's shoulder. "Well, we're here. This isn't your first time in an art gallery, right, Alice?" she asks, knowing her daughter's answer fully well.

Alice beams with such joy, "Yep! My Art Foundations class took a trip last week to an art gallery nearby campus to experience different artist styles and explore our own personal styles."

Ever since she was a little girl, Alice loved art. She loves to paint, draw, sculpt, you name it. The azalea eyed girl could talk for hours about art styles and their differences. Her passion for art drove her to major in art at her university. Though the program brings hard work, Alice loves every second of it.

"We're here today to see an exhibition of works by an artist named Guertena..." Alice's mother smoothes out her dark brunette hair.

"We just learned about him!" Alice quietly squeals with excitement, "Oooh! I can't waaait!" Childishly, she twirls around, her aqua-dyed portion of her hair flowing behind her. In her freshman year of high school, Alice dyed a portion of her boring mouse brown hair. Her hair fell neatly to her waist. As usual, her natural colored hair was pulled back into a ballet bun.

Alice wore an ivory dress with an open back; it has a double criss-cross strap detail and capped sleeves. A floral print in shades of gold, blue, green, and rust decorate the knee-length dress. Alice accessorizes with a tan, braided belt around her skinny waist, a cropped, dark blue, denim jacket with a rhinestone button trim, and a set of four wood and ivory beaded stretch bracelets around her tiny, right wrist. On her feet are slightly-pointed slouch cowboy boots with a stocked wood heel.

Her mother laughs, "And they don't just have paintings, but also sculptures... and all kinds of other creations!" She smiles as excitement grows in her only daughter's azalea eyes, "I don't doubt you'll enjoy it, Alice!"

Her husband grins as well and motions to the reception desk not too far off. "Shall we go to the reception desk?"

"Ah, yes. Let's get some pamphlets as well," his wife nods in reply.

The group of three strides up to the desk. Alice picks up a pamphlet for herself and flips through a few pages before sticking it in her aqua backpack. She grows impatient as she watches her parents contently chatter with the male receptionist. The college student lightly shakes the static out of the bottom of her dress.

Finally having enough, Alice whines, "Motherrrr... may I please see the exhibits myself?"

"Hm? You want to go ahead? Really, Alice?!" her mother frowns. However, she is not completely immune to her daughter's doe eyes quite yet. Taken in by the quivering fuchsia eyes, she gives in, "Oh, alright. Just make sure you're quiet in the gallery, ok? Don't make a ruckus! Not that there's any need to worry about you-!"

Alice scampers off, not letting her mother finish. Staying on the floor she's on, she walks around, glancing at a floor painting depicting the vast depths of the ocean. A huge creature that looks almost like a very large anglerfish sits within the middle of the piece. _Abyss of the Deep... how appropriate._ She turns down a hallway, noticing an immense sculpture in the corner of the room. It's a crimson rose, towering over the average 5' 5" Alice. The college student admires the work for a minute, then takes out her sketchbook. Flipping to a crisp, new page, Alice sketches out the artwork, before adding the finishing splashes of color with her colored pencils.

"There!" Alice giggles before moving on to the exhibits on the next floor. She checks out the mannequin sculptures, however, an unsettling vibe compels her to continue on. She never did feel comfortable around mannequins and certainly not headless ones for that matter. She strays from the mannequins in the assorted colored dresses and finds herself staring at a boy who looked to be about her age, inspecting painting framed on the wall. Alice is so pleased to see someone around her age taking an interest in art.

She begins quietly sketching the boy, observing every detail. Alice doesn't mean anything by it, but his enthusiasm is Alice's inspiration, her muse. There is no stopping her, she's so focused. As she finished, wiping away eraser shavings, Alice wanders on until she reaches an enormous painting. It practically runs the whole wall.

"Fabricated World?" Alice reads aloud, "So bizarre... then again this was created by Guertena..." The lights flicker, drawing the freshman's attention from the painting. "Hmm? That was odd..." She roams back out to the main floor and discovers that she is completely alone.

Alice ponders, "Where did everyone go?" The college freshman sighs, "I should find Mother and Father. No doubt they'll be worried." She meanders down to the reception desk where she last left her parents. She is surprised to see that not only are her parents gone, but the receptionist is missing as well. Maybe he went on break. As Alice draws closer to the abandoned desk, the flickering fixtures finally give out, shrouding her in darkness.

"A power-outage? This is beginning to get quite unnerving," Alice mumbles to herself as she checks the first window to the left of the desk. It doesn't look like it's locked, but it won't open. To Alice's astonishment, a scarlet fluid leaks out, oozing down the glass. She jumps back with a small yelp, yet inspects the ominous fluid again. The 18 year old slowly breathes out in relief, "O-ok... it's just paint. Chill out, Alice... you're freaking yourself out..."

In a hurry, Alice scurries up to the second floor to see if she can locate her parents, or rather anyone. No one's around... much to Alice's displeasure. "Helloooo?" Alice calls out, expecting someone to respond. The whole gallery is eerily silent, aside from the resounding clicks of the heels of Alice's boots on the floor. She nervously jogs around the empty gallery, ending up around the rose sculpture she had sketched not too long ago.

The art student checks out one of the various paintings surrounding her. "The Coughing Man?" Alice muses, "... I don't really get this one..." She pivots to refocus on finding other gallery visitors. The already spooked girl hears a light cough sound from directly behind her. She freezes. Her heart rockets out of her ribcage. She reluctantly and tensely shifts back to look at the painting again. Alice's faces pales and her now widened eyes tremble, "D-did the p-painting... just cough?!" The college freshman pauses, then shakes her head furiously. "I probably just imagined it..." she concludes, "but still... I'm starting to get really creeped out! This is worse than walking around campus at night!"

She can't wait to put as much distance between her and the painting as she possibly can. She is beginning to run out of ideas. Alice decides to try to leave the gallery. Perhaps she lost track of time and everyone else left. She doesn't have a watch to check the time, as much as she could. But that still wouldn't explain why her parents haven't come looking for her. Did the employees make her parents leave? No, that couldn't be the case. Alice returns to the entrance and tests the door. It's locked...

"Ahh! N-no... No way!" Alice moans, frantically jiggling the door a few more times. "M-maybe... maybe there's another way out!" She runs back upstairs and unexpectedly spots a silhouette walk by the window merely feet from her.

"W-woah! Did someone... oooh man..." Alice gulps, gathering courage to approach the window. She examines it and discovers it's locked too. Huffing in frustration, she whirls to storm away.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Three explosive, threatening pounds alert Alice to the fact that she may not be as alone as she had originally perceived.

"Eeek!" she squeals, lurching away, "T-that... that scared me!" Alice shook her head in disappointment. The art major grumbles, "Oh, man up, Alice!" Tentatively, she checks the window again. It looks like someone was banging on this... Indeed, there is a fairly sized handprint smeared on the glass.

Feeling quite intimidated, Alice slinks off to the huge wall painting she'd gazed at, before all this craziness began. There's a blue liquid leaking from behind the frame...

"That wasn't there before..." Alice announces, touching the golden frame. A series of loud taps comes from behind her. She whips around, startled, and stops in her tracks, staring at the text on the floor.

_Come, Alice..._

"W-what?! Come where?!" Alice questions, glancing back at the suspicious liquid. Surprisingly, the liquid now read:

_Come down below, Alice. I'll show you a secret!_

Alice interrogates, but with a shaky voice, "D-down below? Do... do you mean the first floor?!" She pauses as if the blue liquid will answer her again. That would be too easy if it did… The art student decides to follow her assumption and heads downstairs to the first floor with the enormous floor painting. She notices two small, blue footprints leading into it. Alice, viewing it again, feels very uncomfortable as she stares at the undersea creature Guertena had created. This painting which had first been so interesting to her now has her frightened. She cautiously dipped a toe of one of her boots, jolting back in bewilderment as her toe went literally into the painting as if it were a body of water.

"Oooooh, no... Please tell me... I do not have to go down there..." Alice whimpers. She touches the water again, observing the strange ripples expand and dissipate. The brunette with dyed hair and azalea eyes sucks in a deep breath and exhales. "C-come on, Alice! Think of this as an adventure!"

That's when she closes her eyes and takes a leap of faith into the painting.


	2. Connection

When Alice finally opens her eyes, she finds herself in a slightly narrowed, navy blue hall. It leads in two separate directions. Two paintings hang on the wall. The one to the left depicts a ruby body of water; the one to the right depicts a sapphire body of water.

"Which path...?" Alice murmurs to herself. She nervously eyes the red painting. "T-that reminds me of a sea of blood... I'll go this way first..." Alice chooses the path on the right. Somehow, she is heading the right way because the walls are decorated with more text:

_Come... Come... Come..._

Alice stops at a vase with a single, orange rose. Orange is by far, Alice's favorite color. The college freshman cannot resist, she takes the rose from the vase. She tucks in neatly into her breast pocket of her jacket.

The table that the now empty vase is sitting atop of is seemingly blocking a blue door. Alice wants to check that room out, she might find a clue or two as to how to get out of here and find her parents. "Better move this table," she tells herself, pushing it into the corner and out of the way. She enters the door to see a portrait of a beautiful woman smiling, her teal hair hanging out of the frame. There's a notice under the frame...

_When the rose wilts, so too will you rot away._

Alice doesn't fully understand this, what-seems-to-be a warning. Her azalea eyes notice something strange. There's something on the ground...

"Ah! It's a key!" Alice exclaims on closer inspection of the object, "Maybe I can use this to get out!" She picks up the light blue piece of metal. When she turns her attention back up to the frame, Alice sees that the woman in the painting is maliciously grinning at her with jagged, shark-like teeth. Fearful, Alice bolts out, slamming the door behind her with much force.

The startled freshman leans against the door, hyperventilating, all the while trying to slow her rapid heartbeat. "Ooooh man... that nearly gave me a heart attack!" Alice whines. Gripping her chest while her heart beats on, Alice tries to erase the memory of the painting woman's face. She exhales briefly before leaving, having calmed herself. She then sees that the writing in the walls has changed. It now read:

_Thief! Thief! Thief!_

Alice's eyes widen in confusion. She's beginning to feel unsettled and decides it best to leave. As she quickly strolls away, she is stopped by the sudden appearance of THIEF on the floor. This causes her to jump back in surprise and almost lose her footing.

"What?! What did I steal?!" she demands. The college freshman continues to run back from where she came, continuing down the red painting's path. Alice comes to another blue door. Trying the knob, she finds it locked. The art major muses, "Maybe I can unlock the door with this key."

She takes the key in her hand and puts it in the lock, turning it. Alice hears an unlocking sound and opens the door, leaving the now stuck key behind.

This new room is completely covered in a color of forest green. On one wall, paintings of a ladybug, a bee, a butterfly, and a spider adorn the length of it. They look so life-like.

Alice reads the notice next to the ladybug, "Beware the edges?" Not really thinking much of it, she continues down the open hall. Suddenly, a black hand reaches out, clawing at Alice's porcelain skin.

"Ow!" she yelps, jumping to the middle of the path as more hands reach to snag her. Alice notices that they can't seem to reach her if she sticks to the middle of the path like the notice had told her. She also notes that her rose has lost one of its ten petals and a rather large, painful gash has appeared on her arm. "Is this what that first warning was talking about? Are the rose and I really connected?" Alice pauses to think, "In any case... I better walk down the middle of the path to avoid losing anymore petals. I don't wanna think about what will happen if I lose them all..."

Alice slowly trudges down the hall, coming to a green door. Again, she turns the doorknob. It's locked...

"Looks like I can't go this way..." the college student sighs, "Hm?" She takes notice of a lone ant painting on the wall. It looks like it can be taken off the wall... Alice removes the painting, though; she has no clue as to what she can use it for. "Now what to do?" Having no idea, Alice heads back by the other bug paintings and goes down the path by them. She spots another door and jogs up to it. "Oh, a door! I hope this one isn't locked!"

Alice opens the door to a narrow hall with a gaping hole in the floorboards. She draws close to it, judging the distance from the other side. "I probably can't make this jump across..." She glances at the large painting in her hands, "I wonder..." Having no real other idea, Alice lays down the painting. Lucky for her, the ant painting fit perfectly, thus creating a bridge.

Cautiously, the freshman girl creeps across the painting. Surprisingly, and much to Alice's relief, it did not collapse under her weight. She notes that the ant in the painting has become squished. "How odd," Alice mutters while she continues through the next door. She finds herself in an empty room, aside from one of the mannequins she saw in the gallery. It is modeling a scarlet, V-neck dress. Something sparkled by its "feet." There's something on the ground...

"Another key!" Alice gasps, "Awesome!" She scoops up the green key from the floor. As she looks up at the mannequin, it moves toward her. In fear, Alice stumbles ever-so slowly backwards, landing on her backside. The creation growls once and lunges for the girl, managing to clip her face. Alice shrieks and scrambles through the door, across the painting bridge, and then slams the last door. She hears a disturbing crash come from behind the wood and relaxes. The coast is clear...

"Oh... my... God! That was... not okay! I need... to get out of here!" Alice exclaims. She gently touches her cheek but reels back as a stifling, burning sensation shoots through her skin. She also marks that her rose only has 8 surviving petals left. She heads back to the door that had been locked earlier. Alice uses the green key to unlock her obstacle and moves onto the next room.

Alice freezes at the sight of a huge cat head painted on the wall. It has wide, black eyes, making her feel quite anxious. The art student feels as though she's being watched. There's a fish-shaped hole in the wall... Alice determines that the hole must be a key slot. She'll have to find it to proceed. There's two paths... which way should she go?


	3. Some Seriously Sinister Stuff

Alice swallows down her anxiety and chooses the path to the left. She spots a stick figure on a pillar. Intrigued, she inspects it closer. She scans the words underneath the little scribble:

_Play hide-and-seek?_

The stick figure suddenly vanishes. Alice frowns in annoyance; she doesn't really have the time to play games. "Well, you're obviously not hiding directly next to or in front of where you started sooo..." She moves 3 beams over to the left, "I'll try this beam right here!" There's a button of some sort... Alice presses the button and the curtain quickly unfolds.

"I-is this some sort of joke?!" Alice cries out in shock mixed with horror. There's a sinister painting of herself being hung by her ankle. She shivers at this sight, "T-that can't mean anything good..." The now horrified girl moves down one row and over one pillar to the right. Hesitantly, she pushes the button again. This time the curtain reveals the figure. "Whew..." Alice exhales, "Thank goodness!" She reads the text below:

_Found me, you get prize._

Alice hears a clatter come from the front of the room. She investigates and sees something laying on the ground. "Ah! It's a wooden fish head. If I find the tail... maybe... I can put the fish in that hole! Time to check that other room!" Alice stashes the fish head in her bag. She jogs back to the original room and goes to the right.

This time, it appears to be a rather sizeable, walk-in closet. Alice spots a paper on the tiles, though the lights are very dim. She picks up the sheet and reads it through the flickering light. "Materials Storehouse?" she glances up and observes her surroundings, "Huh... that would explain all the boxes and sculptures."

Alice is then alerted to a slight rumbling. In the dimness, she can see that a sculpture head is slowly creeping towards her. "W-whaaa?! More things are after me now?!" She backs up a few steps, remaining on her toes in case she has to run.

The sculpture moves about 3 times before it tips over and shatters. There's something in the shards! Carefully, as to not cut open her hand, Alice picks through the sharp, jagged pieces. "Oh! It's the fish tail!" Alice takes the head of the wooden fish out of her backpack and combines it with the tail. In return, she now has a fish key.

The college student spots a vase full of water. Alice places her drooping rose in the water. The rose returns to health and miraculously grows back its missing petals. The orange rose looks as it did when Alice first picked it up. "I feel sooo much better!" she cheers, "Hey, even my wounds are gone!" She quickly hushes, "Oh!" The vase is out of water...

Alice walks away and is startled by a mysterious, yellow substance dripping down the wall from the ceiling above her. "Huh? Did someone just spill paint?" she ponders. Suddenly, she gasps, "Could there be more people trapped in here like me?!" The girl soon hurries out to the Cat Wall. She inserts the Fish Key and automatically, the cat's eyes change to red slits. The 18 year old college freshman takes a few steps back. The room rumbles along with a low-pitch, "mrrooooow" and a narrow walkway opens with various higher-pitched meows.

Alice takes the path and finds herself stuck in another room. "Oh great... another room," the art major disappointedly grumbles, "Probably more puzzles too... but nothing I can't handle, I guess!" She saunters towards two nearby paintings. One is completely black with crimson, wild eyes and its scarlet tongue wiggling fervently. As she draws closer, the painting spits at her.

"EWWW!" Alice loudly complains in disgust, scrunching her nose for a moment, "I'd better keep a close eye out for any more of _**you**_..." Fussing under her breath, she steps clear around the spit to look at the frame beside it. A totally white painting... looking closer, there's actually a small number in the center... It's a red 9.

"I should probably remember this 9," she tells herself going to the far right. She skims a notice hanging on the wall.

_Beware of lips._

"Beware of... lips? Yet this place gives me no other warning of any other creatures?! Jeez..." Alice mutters quietly while walking. She stops when she sees the lips hanging on the wall. "I'll heed the warning for now..." the girl says, turning about face. Once back, she notices a sheet laying on the floor a foot or so in front of her. She picks it up to read.

_Just when you've forgotten..._

Thinking of the hands that had clawed her earlier in an attempt to snatch her, Alice exhales shakily. "I'd better stick to the center... juuust in case," she recommends aloud. A hand threateningly darts out as she passes, causing her to dodge it with much ease. "_**AHA**_!" the girl exclaims, "I knew it!" She keeps in moving until she discovers a yellow door to the right. "Hm?" There's some text beside the door.

_The Liars' Room_

"The Liars' Room?" Alice questions, entering the door. She views 6 paintings with various colors as their clothes. Each painting wore an article of clothing of one specific color. "So... I'm in the Liars' Room... does that mean they're all lying?" the troubled college girl mulls over while opening the next door. Inside, there's a lone statue holding up a sign.

_There's an odd one out_

"There's an odd one out?" she cocks her head, pausing for a brief moment to think, "I got it! That must mean one painting tells the truth and all the rest are lying! I just have to figure out which one isn't lying!" Alice goes back out and inspects each painting one-by-one, starting with the painting wearing green.

_Stand in front of the statue, go west 3 steps, then south 1 step. That's the answer!_

The brown painting suggests:

_Stand in front of the statue, go east 4 steps, then north 2 steps. That's the answer!_

The yellow painting advises:

_The one in white speaks the truth!_

The painting wearing shades of blue directs:

_The only truth-speaker wears green!_

The white painting instructs:

_Stand in front of the statue, go east 2 steps, then south 2 steps. That's the answer!_

Finally, the one in red:

_I agree with the one in yellow!_

"Well... Blue agrees with Green, Red agrees with Yellow... who agrees with White... it must be Brown! The painting wearing brown is the only independent speaker, the odd one out!" Alice surmises then enters the door. She stands at the statue and faces east. "1, 2, 3, 4..." the girl counts as she steps am turns to the north, "1, 2." There's a loose tile at her feet. Alice pulls it up. There's a number on the back of the tile.

"Another number? But this 4... is blue... Better remember this too-!"

_Crash! GRAAAWR!_

Alice hears the deafening crashes and agitated growls from the other room. And then... silence. "W-what happened?!" she shouts and runs out. She holds a shaking hand to her mouth as she lays her eyes on the carnage.

Red paint is splattered every inch of the room. It's splashed over the paintings like blood. The paintings that disagreed with the one on brown now read something completely different.

_Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar!_

Alice shivers as she looks at what's happened to the brown painting. It's dripping with red paint... It has been also been torn to shreds. She's actually surprised it is still hanging on the wall. "This is beginning to feel really creepy!" she whimpers her statement, hurrying out and to the left.

The 18 year old freshman freezes, a deer in headlights, at the sight of the plush dolls hanging by random appendages. "Aaaand... it just got creepier..." Reluctantly, she inches closer to a doll with a red tee and green slacks. A doll hanging by a rope...

_THUD!_

A doll falls down by Alice's feet causing her to scream in surprise. When she realizes it will do her no harm, the girl relaxes. "It's just another doll... uugh, this _**plaaaace**_!" she whines, shifting her feet in a small tantrum-like motion. The college girl kneels down to investigate the doll. The doll's clothes have a small number on them...

"And now I have a green 18... ah! What's this?!" Alice asks. She drops the doll and ventures to the new, yellow door. There's a password on the door...

_X*X+X= ?_

"The Xs are colored like the numbers. Green, then red, then blue. So, I'm guessing I have to solve for 18 times 9 plus 4. Uhh... I was never good at math but... 18 times 9 issss... 162... and 162 plus 4 is 166! The password is 166!" Alice solves, putting the number into the panel. There was a sound...

Alice cheers, "Yeeeah, buddy!" She enters a small room. There's another sculpture. A wooden apple is on a tree sculpture. Alice picks the wooden apple and smiles, "I bet I know where this is supposed to go!" The now-excited teen takes the apple and scampers to the lips she had avoided earlier. The lips smile at her and speak:

_Hungry... Give food... That food... Give to me._

Alice places the wooden fruit into its mouth. She watches it chew and flinches as it drawls.

_This tasty... I let you pass now... Go through my mouth..._

Alice hesitates as the lips open wide. "I don't really have a choice." She steps through; her eyes pinched tight like a safe. She opens them to view a picture of a rather large guillotine blade.

"Not sure how to respond to this..." the girl mumbles as she passes more pictures. It is as if the blade is slowly being raised. Alice pauses at the top of the stairs for a split second and a giant guillotine blade slams down. The impact shook the floor and almost knocked Alice clear off her feet.

"HOLY!" she shrieks, scrambling back using her hands, "I would like to keep my head attached to the rest of my body if this place doesn't mind!" The 18 year old bolts down the stairs as the blade rises up to the ceiling. That's when she spots a shadow dart down the hall, unnerving her even more.

"I reeeeally hope I'm just seeing things..." Alice groans as she enters a red door at the end of the hallway. In front of her lies yet another red door. She strolls up and wrestles with the doorknob. It's locked. Sighing, she explores this new area. The girl sucks in a breath in awe of a woman in the next painting she comes across. "The Lady in Red. Wow... she's so pretty..." Alice exhales then coughs, flushing as bright red as the painting's dress, "Focus, Alice! Find the key!"

As she turns away, the painting jumps clear off the wall. The woman hangs out of the frame by her torso, using her elbows to quickly haul herself across the floor and after Alice.

"YOU'RE ALIVE?!" Alice screams, darting backwards. She sees something shine on the carpet through her peripheral vision. It's the key she needs!

"Come and get me, Ugly!" Alice antagonizes, facing the Lady in Red head on. The painting woman yowls in anger. The college student slickly lures her attacker away and then makes a mad dash for the key. As soon as she clamps her fingers down on the metal piece, Alice zips to the door and unlocks it. Seeing the Lady in Red still hot on her tail, she slams the door shut. "I have to get out of here!" The girl panics as the next door refuses to open. She begins hyperventilating while she struggles to open the door.

A series of bangs echoes against the far door. Alice exhales, calming herself down. "She must not be able to get in. Good... I can take my time finding my way out of here..." she tells herself. She browses the bookshelf to her right. She comes across a strange book that got her attention. "Oh! Here's something! A moving storybook?" Examining the book closer, it's titled _Carrie Careless and the Galette des Rois_. It's a storybook drawn in crayon.

Alice shrugs, deciding to read it, "Eh... why not?" She turns the pages...


	4. Carrie Careless and the Galette des Rois

**A/N:**  
**This one is going to be the shortest one of all I bet. Course writing the moving storybook takes a little bit away from it...  
And yes, I named them all.**

* * *

Today, Carrie's three friends Cole, Dylan, and Amy are throwing her a surprise birthday party. The weather is clear, without a cloud in the perfect blue sky. It's nice and warm in the sunlight and the party decorations glisten as the rays of sunlight bounce off them. It's perfect weather for an outdoor birthday party. As the birthday girl arrives, her childhood friends joyfully cheer, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Carrie grins widely and laughs, "Thanks guys!" She's wearing her prettiest aqua skirt with her best blue top. Her cyan hair was brushed and styled neatly by her mother. It is her birthday and she has to look her best on her big day.

Amy announces, her chin-length, magenta hair bouncing, "For your special day, we made you a Galette des Rois!" Amy is Carrie's best friend. She can be a little forceful, but she's got a good heart.

"What's that?" asks Carrie, eyeing the golden-brown pastry on the table curiously.

"There's a coin in this pie," Amy explains, "and if you eat the slice with the coin in it, then you'll be a happy person!"

The birthday girl beams with excitement, "That sounds fun!"

"Doesn't it?!" Amy giggles, grabbing the kitchen knife she borrowed from her mother. "Ok, let's divide it up!" She carefully cuts the pie into 4 slices for the group to eat. "Now, pick the slice you want!"

The kids eagerly nab their slices, though Amy let everyone else choose first, starting with Carrie. Today isn't about her, it's about Carrie. The party has to go perfectly. She doesn't want Carrie to be unhappy on her special day.

The group shouts, "LET'S EAT!" The children dig in and savor the taste of the Galette des Rois. It's delicious and tastes like nothing they've ever eaten before. Amy always came up with the best ideas, and this was no exception!

Carrie pauses as she swallows the last of her pastry slice. "A-ah!" she coughs uncomfortably.

"What is it?" Amy questions, putting her plate down, immediately concerned.

"I think... I just swallowed something hard!" Carrie whimpers, clutching her throat. She hacks a few more times and her throat still hurts a bit. It felt as though something had scrapped the inside of her throat, almost causing her to choke.

Amy chuckles, "Aha ha! Ooh, Carrie!"

"It must have been the coin!" Cole says. Of the two boys, he's known Carrie the longest. They all know that the cyan-haired girl can be quite the klutz when she isn't paying attention. Carrie would be the type of person to end up with the correct slice and swallow the prize by accident.

Carrie pales and nervously asks, "What do I do?!"

Amy soothes her distressed friend with a smile, "It's fine, the coin's small!" The magenta-haired girl gathers up everyone's plates and her mother's knife. "Well, I'll clean this up now!" They still have other party games to play like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey as well as a small scavenger hunt consisting of two teams. Of course, Amy's mother had to set up the hunt so that it would be fair.

After playing many games for hours, everyone goes home with huge grins on their faces. Even Carrie relaxed after figuring that the coin would do her no harm. Now, she can go celebrate with her family. Amy happily skips, humming, inside her house to find her mother pacing about outside her father's study.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Amy inquires.

Her mom stops. She poses a single question in reply, "Have you seen the key to the study?" Her mother looks absolutely exhausted. Three worry lines are becoming prominent on her forehead. And her hair is not laying as neat as it usually does. How long had she been looking for the key?

"To the study? It's always right here on this tabl-" Amy freezes when she sees that the scarlet key is not on the table, instead, a small, gold piece of metal has taken its place. "Huh? It's the coin... the coin that should've... been put... in the pie... Could it be that..." the little girl pales, her heart beginning to race.

"Where could it have gone?" Amy's mother sighs, running a hand through her amaranth hair. She walks out to search in another room, "Oh, my dear will be so upset..." She's right; her father will have a fit if he finds out what happened to the key to his study. He won't be able to work on his important documents without that key.

Amy panics as she realizes Carrie had swallowed the study key. She starts pacing about, frantically thinking of how to solve this sticky situation she got herself into. "What do I do... do..." the knife she was balancing on the plates clangs on the ground. She stares at the knife for a few moments. Picking it back up, she takes a walk back outside.

"Looks like I was just as careless as Carrie..." Amy mutters, as she quickens her pace down the sidewalk. Her grip on the kitchen knife tightens so much that her knuckles are white. Faster and faster and faster she walks. Closer and closer and closer...

...

"AIEEEEEEE!"

Amy, now covered in the blood of her cut down friend, chirps, "I found the keeey! Now, open the door!"

* * *

**A/N:  
****All I could think of while watching this scene go down in the actual game was the times in my childhood when it got to be around Christmas time.**  
**We have a holiday called Ephiphany which celebrates the event when the three Magi went to visit Baby Jesus. The cake in Catholic tradition is called a King Cake. It's actually the same pastry! Same objective for both cakes. You get the correct piece, you're a lucky/happy person. I think you had to do something with the figure. I just don't remember what.  
I remember year after year after year trying for that little figurine though! It took me like 5 years to get the correct slice. I like cried in happiness. We don't seem to do that anymore though... A****ll I think of now is that God forbid if I had swallowed that Baby Jesus trinket, I'd be getting my stomach slashed open by my friend who wanted the piece...**  
**It's ok, I didn't want to sleep tonight anyway... TAT**


	5. Alice in Anything But Wonderland

"Oh my God! How morbid can you get?!" Alice cries in disgust, dropping the storybook. There is a sound. She tests the door and finds it now unlocked, a bit to her displeasure caused by the story's end. The girl spots an interesting painting of a celeste-blue vase. "Eternal Blessing... hmm...what a pretty name." Alice heads to the left and enters the next room. She checks the vase and is mildly disappointed. There's no water in the vase... Then the college student detects something strange on the ground in the corner, which she cautiously approaches. There are blue petals on the ground...

"Blue petals?" Alice ponders following the scattered trail, ending at a small puddle on the carpet. "Oh my God!" she exclaims, "That's blood!" Then her eyes catch a plaque on the wall. "The Lady in Bl- ooooh, please tell me there's not more them..." Backtracking a few steps, Alice stops at a new red door. Jiggling the handle, she finds that yet again, in this bizarre place, she's found another locked door.

"Perfect... I can't get in here either without a key..." the 18 year old huffs, putting her hands on her hips, "Better check the right and keep an eye out for the key." She moseys on down the right, reaching a long hallway. The azalea-eyed girl gasps in shock at the motionless body collapsed on the floor, "Ah! H-hey! What happened?!" With great concern, she jolts to the stranger, kneeling beside him, "Can you hear me?"

The boy softly moans, "... Ugh..." then falls silent with a twitch.

Alice bites her lip. She spots something in his grasp. He's holding tightly onto a key. The college student decides that she's going to take the key. Unclamping it from his palm, Alice inspects the small key, hoping it will unlock the door she'd just discovered.

"I feel horrible for taking this... but maybe I can find help after I search that room..." she mumbles half to him, half to herself.

"... Ugh..." he whimpers again, seemingly in more pain now than before.

She calls out to him with the gentlest voice she could, "Hey, are you alright?"

He pauses but then slowly groans, "... It... hurts..." He's clearly in pain.

Alice touches his back with a light hand for reassurance. She asks, "What hurts you?" The girl tries to calmly massage his tensed shoulders. She stops as the boy violently jerks.

"... St... sto... Hack! Cough..." He's in a lot of pain.

Alice feels frightened. She holds back some shaky tears. She doesn't want to leave his side, but she really has no other choice. "I don't know what to do... but I need to unlock that room. I promise, I'll be right back! Just... hang on a little while longer!" the art major reassures before sprinting lightning fast to the locked door. Alice uses the small key to open the door. As she steps in, the girl catches sight of another painting woman, this time adorned in blue, tearing up something small in its hands. _I think that's a rose!_

The monster, upon spotting Alice, drops her plaything and attacks. The art major runs back out the door, the painting woman on her heels. Alice blocks her, pushing all her weight against the rumbling door. She hears three bangs and witnesses the Lady in Blue crash straight through the window to her left. It yowls at her as it hits the carpet.

"Eeep!" Alice squeaks, darting back into the room. This time, the painting woman did not follow her. Stomping her foot, she shouts angrily, "I AM SO SICK OF THESE PAINTINGS!" On the ground, Alice looks at the remnants of a wilted and mangled, blue rose. She lightly holds it in her palms. A rose with few petals left...

Alice examines a ceramic, teal vase nearby. A vase full of water. She places the badly damaged flower in the liquid. The blue rose returned to health. Even though Alice placed the rose in the vase, the water did not run out. "I wonder..." she ponders while she gently turns the rose in her hand, "is this rose... his?" The girl runs back to check on the collapsed boy. She squats in front of him, "Hey."

"... Mhm..." The stranger mumbles, lifting his head gingerly, "What's this? The pain's gone... oh?" His visible amethyst eye locks in on Alice's face, the girl is inches from his slumped over body.

The boy, startled, flies to his feet, shrieking, "Eeeeek!" His sudden outburst knocks Alice onto her bottom. "Wh... what is it this time?! I've got nothing left!" The lavender-haired boy shouts defensively at her. His lavender hair covers his left eye completely and has 4 darker purple strands. The now lively stranger is wearing an olive-green tank top under a navy tattered coat with brown slacks.

Alice holds her small hands up in a sign of submission and peace. She stutters out, "W-wait! You've got it all wrong!"

The boy, who looks to be about Alice's age, pauses as he realizes the person in front of him is human and means to do no harm. "W... wait. Could you be someone from the gallery?!" he asks, offering her his hand to help her up.

"Yes! I am!" she replies, very happy to find someone else in the same boat as her. Alice gratefully takes his extended hand. The other gallery member guides her to her feet.

"So you are! Oh, thank goodness! There's someone besides me!"

"I know what you mean! I thought I was the only one! But... I'm not sure how I got here. One minute I'm browsing the gallery, the next minute everyone vanished and I'm stuck here!"

"I see..." the boy sighs, "So you don't have any idea how things got to this point either. It seems you situation was much like mine, I must say."

Remembering the rose, Alice shows him the blue flower, "I-is this yours?"

"Why, yes it is!" the stranger from the gallery answers, taking the rose back. With a sad expression, he glances back at it. "This rose... when it loses petals, wounds appear on my body. I thought I was a goner there..." He smiles so kindly at her. "Thank you for getting it back."

She smiles back, "You're welcome."

"Now, first things first... shall we find a way out? I think I'll go mad if I stay in this dreadful place for too long," the boy eagerly chirps.

Alice nods in agreement, muttering, "Yeah, me too..."

"Ah, I still haven't asked your name yet. How foolish of me! Well, I'm Garry. And you are?" the gallery observer named Garry laughs as he introduces himself. He seems to be quite sociable, something Alice really wasn't unless they shared a common interest. It wasn't that Alice didn't like people, she was just very shy. This was a problem for her at her university. Her roommate would try to get Alice to come with her and hang out with other people, but Alice normally hid in their room, working on sketches and homework. She liked the people her roommate befriended, Alice just wasn't comfortable going out and meeting people like her roommate was accustomed to. But the shy girl didn't feel so uncomfortable with Garry, barely knowing him for more than 5 minutes.

"My name's Alice. Like Alice in Wonderland... not that I'd be calling this place Wonderland anytime soon. Anything but Wonderland," Alice responds.

Garry beams at his newfound friend, "Alice... Alice, you say. It's dangerous for a young lady to be all on their own. So I shall stick with you! Let's go, Alice!"

"Right!" Alice giggles. At a closer inspection of his back, Alice discovers that Garry is the boy she drew earlier in the gallery before all this went down. "Ah!" The girl stops her footsteps, gasping in surprise.

Garry looks back at her with slight confusion. "Is something wrong?" he questions, cocking his head.

Quickly, Alice recovers with a cough, "No, it's nothing..."

Both teens walk down the hallway, calmly chattering. That is until the red and black painting with the wiggling tongue Alice saw earlier spits at them.

"HYEEEEEK!" the teen boy screeches, reeling back and unintentionally falling flat on his behind. Garry flushes as his female companion snickers at him. He stands up, brushing dust off his pants. "I... I was just a bit startled! Really, that's all! Anyway!" Garry coughs to regain his composure, "Let's keep going and watch out for bizarre things like that." Alice chokes back a fit of laughter as he cautiously sidesteps around the spit, not taking his eyes off the painting.

The duo stops at the end of the hall. A headless statue blocks the door. Alice pales as she recalls the mannequin that had attacked her in the green area not too long ago.

"This is just in our way. Step back a bit, would you, Alice?" Garry requests.

The girl silently nods at him and shies a few steps back. He ignores her somewhat-odd behavior, placing his hands firmly against the sculpture. Puffing out a deep breath, the lavender haired boy shoves it over with ease, "And... heave!" Garry grins as Alice rejoins him, "There! Now we can proceed."

"A-alright. Let's go!" Alice suggests, opening the door all the while sneaking cautious glances at the black, headless statue through her peripheral vision. She, along with Garry, her new travel partner, enters into the next area.


	6. Puzzling Puzzles

The atmosphere is very depressing due to the dark gray walls and somber paintings. There are two paintings of a groom and of a bride; however instead of joyful expression on their faces, both looked on the verge of tears. In front of each painting is a black hand sculpture, grasping at the air, as if searching for something.

Alice tugs Garry up the path and into the first gray door she spots. Once inside, the two are quickly alerted to the presence of 3 mannequins with red dresses fumbling through what seems to be a maze. Carefully, they jog up the far right, stopping to read a sign.

_Go straight south from the red paint..._

Spotting the creature creeping menacingly towards the two teens, Alice latches her fingers around Garry's wrist, running to the safety of the center circle within the maze. Letting go and nodding in apology, she skims a noticed taped to the wall.

_There's a trick to solving mazes... hug the right-hand side and you'll reach the end eventually._

"Not a bad trick. But that doesn't help the ceiling being far too low for comfort," Garry concludes softly, "Plus there's these weird things loitering around... Be careful not to get between them, okay, Alice."

"R-right! You too!" she advises. Peeking out of the maze, the 18 year old takes a chance by running to the nearest point splatter she could see. There's a switch on the wall. Alice presses it and holds her breath. There's a sound outside. She exhales, realizing how lucky she was to have chosen to right switch on the first try.

"Yes!" Alice cheers as Garry scrambles up, "Let's get the heck out of this maze!" The two bolt out the door. Without any real thought, she wanders to the left. There, eyes appear, covering the floor.

Garry leaps back shouting like a schoolgirl, "Yaaaah! What is _**that**_?! Gross is what! Why are there _**eyes**_ on the _**floor**_?!" He is surprised and a little shocked to see that his companion seems more intrigued by the sight than disgusted. Her azalea eyes are locked on something.

"Hey," Alice notes, "One is pink..." The college art student moves to investigate, but the purple haired boy yanks her back by the arm.

"L-let's come back later..." he stutters quickly as he releases her. He can't understand why she isn't as disturbed as him. Garry can't let Alice's apparent curiosity get the better of her and possibly get herself in a bad situation.

Alice looks at him in confusion. Quietly, she replies, "O-okay." She decides it best not to argue with him, figuring he has a good reason for being more skeptical than her. The duo traces back and go up the right path. Alice is drawn to the plain, white snake painting. There's a hole in the snake's eye.

"It looks like a ball of some kind has to go here, don't you think?" the girl asks, turning to the boy while he scopes out the painting with his own eyes.

Garry nods, agreeing, "You're right. We'll have to keep a sharp lookout for it."

Alice scurries back down and through another gray door they'd passed up. In the back, Alice can see a bright blue vial on a table. However, many smaller tables and easels block her way. Figuring that they'd have to slide them around to create a path, the two teens get to work. Eventually, they reach the small bottle which Alice picks up and inspects. It's a bottle of eye drops.

"I wonder... Come on, Garry! I have an idea!" she says, tearing off back to the hall of eyes. Garry reluctantly joins her at the reddened eye. The contested eye is looking their way. Garry flinches as it looks at him. Alice slightly giggles and opens the vial. Gently, she applies the medicine to the eye. Within seconds, the congestion is cured.

The eye looks at Alice happily then moves away and stares at a wall to the right. The duo follows it, Garry moving with slow shuffling. The eye continues to stare intently at the wall. The wall is slightly a different color.

"Strange..." the 18 year old girl whispers, lightly touching her fingertips to the wall. Upon her touch, the wall crumbles and collapses a bit. They found a secret passage. Alice, being the smaller of the two, goes in alone. If anything happens, she is to scream and Garry will reach in and pull her out. It's quite narrow and short. She spots a red, round glass ball and picks it up. Scooting back out, Alice cheerfully shows her finding to Garry.

"This must go to the snake! You know how lots of albino animals like mice and rabbits have red eyes? Plus, this ball is practically the same size as the hole!" With no further explanation, the art student eagerly drags the tall boy back to the snake painting. Using a steady hand, she pushes the red, glass ball into the painting. Just as she pulls her hand, the painting to the left of it falls off the wall and at her feet. There's writing on the back of the frame...

_Behind the big tree..._

"A tree? Where could a tree be?" Alice sighs, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head. There is no end to the puzzles and the riddles here.

Garry pats her head and laughs. He concludes, "We need to investigate more.

Alice bobs her head and the two head back down to where the maze was. Turning to the right this time, they find another doorway has appeared. The duo enters the new room. It's lined with various sculptures. They keep walking until they come to a tree sculpture at the very end.

"Feeling? It vaguely resembles a person..." the art student murmurs, "What do you think, Garry?"

Garry scratches his head, "You've gotta be pretty good to come up this stuff."

"It's got to be this tree... Hey, what's this?" Something gleams amid the leaves. Alice reaches in and pulls out a small, silver band. She drops it into Garry's open palm for him to take a look.

Garry inspects it, puzzled, "Isn't this... a wedding ring? What's it doing here of all places?"

Alice immediately has an epiphany. She snaps her fingers, "The Grieving Bride! We need to put the silver ring on the left hand sculpture!" The college freshman yanks her traveling companion hastily back to the grief-stricken paintings. The bride appears to be sobbing now. Alice is saddened by the paintings suffering. She hates to see people in such pain like that. Taking back the piece of metal, Alice strides up to the hand sculpture in front of the bride. She slides the wedding band on the ring finger. Tenderly, Alice smiles to the painting of the now joyful, blushing bride, "I believe this belongs to you." In reply, the ecstatic painting woman throws her bouquet to the human girl as a sign of thanks. Alice catches them with ease and thanks the painting for the gift. Surprisingly, the pink roses are very much real. The cute flowers smell sweet, reminding her of the small flowers her mother kept on her desk at work.

"So, what do we do with this bouquet?" Alice asks her traveling companion, hugging the bouquet in her arms.

Garry thinks about it for a moment. He recalls spotting a hallway by the room where they'd found the eye drops. The 18 year old boy replies, "We didn't search this hallway by the room where we got the eye drops. Why don't we check over there?"

"Good idea!" Alice chirps, "Let's go!" She scampers away, quickly followed by Garry who scolds her for getting a bit ahead of him. The college freshman apologizes and stays in step with the teen boy. When Alice turns the corner, she pauses, eyeing the black painting with azure eyes and shark-like teeth at the end of the hall. She approaches it after Garry shoots her a confused look.

"Ehehehe, hehehehehe... Flowers... flowers're nice..." the painting creepily chuckles, unnerving the art student and her companion, "Give me that there flower and I'll let you through... ehehe... Ehehe... your flower, pretty please."

Alice notices that its eyes keep from her orange rose to the bouquet. She holds out the pink roses and the painting leers at her, causing her to freeze and her heart to jump in her chest.

"Ehehehe, thanks... it smells niiiice... eheheheh. Well, chow time!" The painting turns scarlet as it loudly munches on the flowers Alice held out. It turns back to normal and giggles, "Ahhh, that was good... eheheh. Thank you, thanks so much... As promised, you can go through. Just take this door in... Well, see ya... eheheheh!" The strange, flower-eating painting fades. In its place is a makeshift, black door.

Sighing in relief, Alice faces Garry, "I'm glad we had the bouquet to give it..." She shudders at the idea of it eating her rose instead. She didn't like the idea of the possible outcome that would have resulted if she had given the painting it.

"Shall we continue our journey?" the boy smiles for comfort, linking his arm with the shaken girl's and leading her through the new door.


End file.
